07 DEC 2014 – Robert Forstemann (left) from Germany and Sam Webster of New Zealand race for the finish line during the Men’s Individual Sprint 1/8 finals at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

06 DEC 2014 – Laura Trott (left) from Great Britain races with the pack during the women’s Omnium 10km Scratch Race at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup at the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

06 DEC 2014 – Laura Trott (right) from Great Britain rides in the pack during the women’s Omnium Elimination Race at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup round in the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

07 DEC 2014 – Laura Trott racing for Great Britain concentrates as she waits for the start of the Women’s Omnium 500m Time Trial during the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup at the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

07 DEC 2014 – Laura Trott racing for Great Britain powers around the track during the women’s Omnium Flying Lap round at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup at the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

07 DEC 2014 – Laura Trott (centre) racing for Great Britain rides between her nearest rivals Jolien D’Hoore (left) of Belgium, and Kirsten Wild (right) racing for the Netherlands, during the Omnium Points Race on her way to winning the overall event at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup at the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

06 DEC 2014 – Owain Doull of Great Britain and his team mate Mark Christian (left) celebrate their victory in the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup Madison race at the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

07 DEC 2014 – Michael d’Almeida from France looks for an opportunity to attack during his 1/16 final against Nikita Shurshin (left) from Russia in the men’s Individual Sprint at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

07 DEC 2014 – Matthew Archibald riding for the HPSNZ Track Team watches his rival Stefan Botticher of Germany lead off from the start of his Men’s Individual Sprint 1/8 finals round at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

07 DEC 2014 – Jeffrey Hoogland (right) from the Netherlands attempts to draft off opponent Fabian Hernando Puerta Zapata (left) from Colombia during the second round of the Men’s Individual Sprint final at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

06 DEC 2014 – Jason Kenny (second from the left) from Great Britain waits for the start of the Men’s Keirin final flanked by Christos Volikakis (left) from Greece and Fabian Hernando Puerta Zapata (right) from Colombia at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

06 DEC 2014 – Anna Meares racing for Jayco AIS makes her way to the finish line during the Women’s Individual Sprint 1/16 finals at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup in the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

05 DEC 2014 – The Australian team race round the track during the men’s Team Pursuit qualifying round at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup at the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

05 DEC 2014 – The Great Britain team line up as they race to the finish during the men’s Team Pursuit qualifying round at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup at the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

05 DEC 2014 – The team from the USA race around the track during qualifying for the Women’s Team Pursuit at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup at the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

05 DEC 2014 – The Australian team line up as they race to the finish during their women’s Team Pursuit first round tie against Canada at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup at the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

05 DEC 2014 – The Great Britain women’s team (top) catch the team from the USA during their women’s Team Pursuit first round tie at the 2014 UCI Track Cycling World Cup at the Lee Valley Velo Park in Stratford, London, Great Britain

29 NOV 2014 – Lars Van Der Haar (centre) from the Netherlands and Development Team Giant-Shimano runs in a pack during the men’s 2014-2015 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup round at Campbell Park in Milton Keynes, Great Britain

29 NOV 2014 – Kevin Pauwels from Belgium and the Sunweb-Napoleon Games Cycling Team negotiates the mud at a bend under the watchful eye of the crowd during the men’s 2014-2015 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup round at Campbell Park in Milton Keynes, Great Britain. Pauwels won the race in a time of 1:03:01

29 NOV 2014 – Jeremy Durrin from the USA carries his bike on his shoulder as he runs over a muddy stretch of the course during the men’s 2014-2015 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup round at Campbell Park in Milton Keynes, Great Britain

29 NOV 2014 – Katherine Compton from the USA lifts her bike as she begins to run up a climb during the women’s 2014-2015 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup round at Campbell Park in Milton Keynes, Great Britain

29 NOV 2014 – Sophie De Boer (left) from the Netherlands and Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental Team, and Crystal Anthony (right) from the USA push their bikes up a climb during the women’s 2014-2015 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup round at Campbell Park in Milton Keynes, Great Britain

29 NOV 2014 – Gavin Haley from Red Zone Cycling Team pushes his bike up a climb during the junior men’s event held before the 2014-2015 UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup round at Campbell Park in Milton Keynes, Great Britain

Strong comebacks denied hosts Ipswich the titles in the last stages of both championships.

Having clawed their way back in front in the women’s final the title was snatched away from Ipswich in the last two of the twenty heats by the more experienced Leicester Monarchs who took seven out of the maximum eight points to give the Midlands team their ninth title.

Then in the Open final Wednesfield Aces who were trailing Ipswich by eight points at the halfway mark managed four wins in the next four heats to close the gap. Drawing level through their leading points scorer Paul Heard in the last heat, Ben Mould then sealed victory from an inside lane start in the run off against Josh Brooke of Ipswich.

Both teams had dominated the scoring throughout. In the women’s final Ipswich’s Lauren Jacobs took three wins and a second place for fifteen points out a total of sixteen and in the men’s, Heard and Brooke were the highest scorers with fourteen points each. Brooke, Ricki Johnson from Wednesfield and Ollie Riley of Hethersett Hawks were the only competitors throughout the day to manage perfect scores of four wins in four heats, the first two during their respective semi finals, and the latter in the Minor Final in the afternoon.

Iceland ended the hopes of Great Britain’s men qualifying for the Eurobasket 2015 at the Copper Box Arena with a 71-69 win that also kept alive their hopes of reaching the tournament for the first time in their history.

The British started well and led for virtually all of the first half dropping behind only once when a three pointer from Iceland’s Logi Gunnarsson, just under 8 minutes in, took the visitors ahead to 15-16.

Then a little over a minute into the third quarter, having twice in a matter of seconds due to two three-pointers from Myles Hesson built up a lead of thirteen points, just one off the magical number they needed to win by to keep them in with a chance of qualifying, the hosts lost their rhythm. Whether it was the realisation that after losses in the two previous rounds that not only were they winning but still within a chance of making the finals, tiredness caused by the qualifying schedule tied in with the travel arrangements forced on them by financial constraints or some other reason a series of turnovers and missed shots allowed Iceland back into the game.

Over the course of the quarter Iceland clawed back the points until with four seconds left a jump shot from Helgi Mar Magnisson took the team into a two point lead.

Despite dropping five points behind in the fourth quarter the hosts fought back to within two points, their narrowest defeat of the tournament but in the end it was the Icelandic team who celebrated knowing they still had a chance to reach the finals.

Although cycle polo has been around since the end of the 19th Century the hardcourt version only came into being in the early 21st century. Unlike its older grass based sibling, hardcourt bike polo games are played on existing tennis courts, car parks and 5 a side football pitches with, where possible, boards around the sides to keep the ball in. Other differences include only three players on each team as opposed to six with four on the pitch and, each game is usually limited to twelve to fifteen minutes, though sometimes ten in a tournament to allow for more games to be played, or the first team to score five goals.

Whilst standard bikes were used in the sport’s early days the advantages of customising them became apparent due to the advantages of shorter wheelbases which allow for turning in smaller spaces and provides less space underneath the frame through which rivals can shoot or attempt to hit the ball. Some players also make wheel covers to protect the spokes and create a surface from which they can rebound the ball during play when making a shot. Mallets were originally hand made but manufactured versions can now be bought.

Players are required to stay on their bikes throughout play. Dabbing or touching the ground requires them to tap-out at a pre designated point near the centre of the court avoiding any action that affects play until they have done so.

Shoulder to shoulder and mallet to mallet contact is usually permitted whilst the legality of other forms such as hooking, where a player uses their mallet to pull a rivals away from the ball varies depending on the tournament or local rules.

Whilst originating in Seattle in the USA the sport has now spread around the world to now be played in over 30 countries and with organising bodies on North and South America aswell as Europe and Australia. The first world championships were held in Toronto in 2008.

With only light from street lamps to guide him James Donaldson, the full distance race winner in a time of 9:46:53.00, makes his way along a track section of the 42km run in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The race started in the evening a little after 6pm with a lake swim. The field was made up of competitors doing the complete distance of a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42km run alongside entrants doing half and quarter that distance.

With the street lamps starting to light the course Neil Bailey continues on the 20 lap full distance bike course. One of the 28 finishers out of the 50 who chose to race the distance, Bailey completed the event in 15:34:12.55.

With the road mainly lit by street lamps and lights from cars in the still open lane of Bob Dunn Way in Dartford, Peter Campbell heads back towards transition during his half distance race. Campbell was second in his wave finishing in a time of 4:20:53.25.

Each lap of the H shaped bike course consisted of a ride along the A206, Bob Dunn Way, off at a roundabout, through a housing estate and then along the Fastrack bus route in The Bridge past transition for the start of the next lap.

On paper, victory for ITU World Triathlon Series leader America’s Gwen Jorgensen seemed like a certainty at the Tri Liverpool elite women’s race. Competing against a field of mainly British juniors and Under 23′s she was clearly the favourite.

However strong swims from junior Sophie Coldwell and Jessica Learmouth saw them leave the water first allowing them to work together to quickly establish a lead of more than a minute over the chasers, including the more experienced Jorgensen, as they left T2.

Earlier in the day around a thousand competitors had competed in their own waves in the British Age Group Championships and for fun including relay teams made up Liverpool MPs Shadow Secretary of State for Health Andy Burnham, Shadow Minister for Public Health Luciana Berger and Steve Rotherham and, Hollyoaks stars Nikki Sanderson and James Sutton.